KOCHI: Oriental Insurance Company, in association with Confederation of NGOs of Rural India (CNRI), is offering training facility to unemployed youth for taking up a job as insurance agents. Training will be imparted as per norms laid by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) by experienced faculty.

The agency would be a source for stable, fee-based income. There is scope for getting a reasonable income due to the presence of a rapidly expanding middle-class that needs more insurance cover. CNRI can recommend names of probable candidates.

A person desiring to be an insurance agent can either apply directly to the regional office or approach the nearest office of Oriental Insurance, according to a top official of the company. The applicant should have passed Class XII examination or an equivalent qualification. In the case of those residing in rural areas, the candidates who have passed Class X or equivalent are also eligible. The candidate has to undergo 100 hours of training and subsequently pass the IRDA examination. Once he/she clears the IRDA examination, the person has to apply for a licence.

The opportunity is open to those who are already life insurance agents. Such agents holding licence for life insurance as well as general insurance are called composite agents. Those applicants who want to become composite agents have to attend 50 hours of training and then pass the IRDA examination. A licence is issued for three years. For renewal purpose, the person has to undergo 25 hours of training.

Over 150 insurance policies are offered by Oriental Insurance. The individual policies offered by the company include Mediclaim, motor policy, personal accident policy, shopkeeper's policy, householder's policy and universal health insurance policy. The rural insurance cover is available for agri-pumpsets and cattle. This apart, there are policies such as Kisan package policy, Janata personal accident policy and Bhagyashree child welfare policy which cater to different types of insurance needs.

The present size of non-life insurance market is over Rs.18,000 crores which has a potential of growing to more than Rs.30,000 crores, the company representative said.

In a country of one billion people, there is unlimited potential for personal lines of insurance products.

It is worthwhile to note that the middle-class segment in India is the largest in the world after China.

India is one of the countries with least insurance density in the world.

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